[PATCH] wireless-regdb: Add 6 GHz LPI rule for South Africa (ZA)

[Louis Kotze]

Thanks for the quick reply.

Indoor is the right choice. The LPI rule at 23 dBm is the primary use
case — indoor WiFi 6E/7 access points. The current VLP-only rule
(14 dBm) breaks 6 GHz entirely for indoor setups because the
regulatory mismatch with LPI access points causes repeated association
failures.

ICASA references EN 303 687, which restricts LPI to indoor use, so
NO-OUTDOOR is required.

Updated patch below — replaces the VLP rule rather than adding a
second one.

Signed-off-by: Louis Kotze <connect at prolificstudio.co.za>
---
 db.txt | 2 +-
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/db.txt b/db.txt
index 343b256..778ac21 100644
--- a/db.txt
+++ b/db.txt
@@ -2180,6 +2180,6 @@ country ZA: DFS-ETSI
  (5170 - 5250 @ 80), (20), AUTO-BW
  (5250 - 5330 @ 80), (20), DFS, AUTO-BW
  (5490 - 5710 @ 160), (30)
- (5925 - 6425 @ 320), (14)
+ (5925 - 6425 @ 320), (23), NO-OUTDOOR

 country ZW: DFS-ETSI


Regards
Louis Kotze

On Fri, Apr 10, 2026 at 9:26 AM Chen-Yu Tsai <wens at kernel.org> wrote:
>
> On Thu, Apr 9, 2026 at 7:34 PM Louis Kotze <loukot at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > Hi maintainers,
> > Please have a look at the following request:
> >
> > ICASA (Independent Communications Authority of South Africa) published
> > Notice 1822 of 2023 on 23 May 2023, amending Annexure B of the Radio
> > Frequency Spectrum Regulations, 2015, to allow licence-exempt use of
> > the lower 6 GHz band (5925-6425 MHz) for WAS/RLAN.
> >
> > The notice references the ETSI EN 303 687 standard and defines two
> > device classes for 5925-6425 MHz:
> >
> >   1. Low Power Indoor (LPI)
> >      - Max EIRP         : 23 dBm (200 mW)
> >      - Restriction      : Indoor use only
> >
> >   2. Very Low Power (VLP)
> >      - Max EIRP         : 14 dBm (25 mW)
> >      - Restriction      : None
> >
> > Currently, the database only contains the VLP rule (14 dBm). Add the
> > LPI rule (23 dBm, NO-OUTDOOR).
> >
> > Without the LPI rule, clients connecting to indoor access points
> > advertising 6 GHz at LPI power levels experience repeated association
> > failures due to regulatory mismatch ("regulatory prevented using AP
> > config, downgraded"), which on MLO (Multi-Link Operation) setups
> > causes the 6 GHz link to fail and disrupts the connection.
>
> Unfortunately we can only have one rule per band. So it's either allow
> outdoor usage or better indoor performance.
>
> ChenYu
>
> > Reference:
> >   ICASA Notice 1822 of 2023
> >   Amendment to Annexure B, Radio Frequency Spectrum Regulations, 2015
> >   URL: https://www.icasa.org.za/news/2023/icasa-releases-more-spectrum-for-wi-fi-services-in-the-lower-6ghz-band
> > Signed-off-by: Louis Kotze <connect at prolificstudio.co.za>
> > ---
> >  db.txt | 1 +
> >  1 file changed, 1 insertion(+)
> >
> > diff --git a/db.txt b/db.txt
> > index 343b256..778ac21 100644
> > --- a/db.txt
> > +++ b/db.txt
> > @@ -2180,6 +2180,7 @@ country ZA: DFS-ETSI
> >   (5170 - 5250 @ 80), (20), AUTO-BW
> >   (5250 - 5330 @ 80), (20), DFS, AUTO-BW
> >   (5490 - 5710 @ 160), (30)
> > + (5925 - 6425 @ 320), (23), NO-OUTDOOR
> >   (5925 - 6425 @ 320), (14)
> >
> >  country ZW: DFS-ETSI
> > --
> >
> >
> > Thank you and Regards
> > Louis Kotze